Chapter 16
Sousuke carried the kitsune away by the nape of its neck.
“What happened?”
Hiroto stared back and forth between Sousuke and the kitsune in surprise, while munching on some snacks and sipping his soda.
“Why was Mutsu shouting?”
“This guy decided to shower with her.”
“Was he there to peep on her, or what??!!”
After Hiroto dropped it onto the tatami mat, the kitsune ran off, only bringing the towel with it.
“Good grief, are all of you so hellbent on making trouble?!”
Mutsu came in wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants, her hair still dripping wet. A faint smell of soap accompanied her presence.
“The kuda-gitsune was also there. But at least it is cute and can’t speak.”
The kuda-kitsune gave off the same scent as Mutsu as it slid into Sousuke’s clothes from his collar. However, it made no visible long and narrow bulge under his clothes, and Sousuke, because he too was wet, didn’t seem annoyed by its presence.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think it’d do it. What a little brat…”
“Keep better track of it next time.”
Mutsu wrapped her hair up in a towel and lay down on the futon.
“Am I sleeping in the middle?”
Hiroto and Sousuke’s luggage was already places on both edges, so she had no other choices.
“If we do it like this, it’ll be okay even if something happens.”
“What are you saying could happen?”
“Things like some idiot kitsune coming over?”
Chuckling, Sousuke left to take a shower. Hiroto munched on some sweets while watching videos online. Mutsu stealthily observed the situation around her while looking at something on her phone. However, it was almost as if she was looking through her phone rather than at it.
“I’m going to go to sleep now.”
With these words Mutsu pulled the futon over her.
“You should dry your hair first.”
“Eh, it’s too much of a bother. And the circuit breaker looks like it might cut off the power. Good night!”
The circuit breaker did indeed look like it could cut of the power at any moment. As soon as Sousuke returned, Hiroto also went to take a shower and decided that he would go to sleep immediately after that. There wasn’t any TV and his phone had bad service so there wasn’t much else to do.
Leaving only one small lamp on, Sousuke and Hiroto each covered themselves with their respective futons. Mutsu seemed to be asleep, her regular breathing faintly audible.
The kitsune were also likely asleep, because they were wrapped up in silence, not even a small sound could be heard.
When Hiroto woke up in the morning it seemed like Mutsu and Sousuke were already awake, because their beds were empty.
After changing his clothes in a hurry, Hiroto went into the living room, peeking into the kitchen on his way. When he arrived, he only found Sousuke who was putting on his jacket and preparing to go outside.
“What’s the matter?”
“Mucchan is gone.”
“What?! Where are the kitsune?”
Even as the two looked around and called out to them, the kitsune were nowhere to be found. Worrying that the kitsune might have done something to Mutsu, Hiroto soon decided to follow Sousuke outside.
Just as he was energically leaving the house, he collided with Sousuke’s back. The latter had came to a halt at the entrance.
“Good morning, guys!”
It was Mutsu’s voice.
She was sitting down, leaning on the offertory box and wildly waving her hands at them in greeting.
“You guys wouldn’t wake up, so I decided to come out without you.”
With those words, Mutsu stood up and headed towards them. In her hands, she firmly held something long and narrow, wrapped into a black cloth.
“They didn’t come back. I let loose ten shikigami paper dolls, and not even one returned. They were all destroyed, as if with a big pair of scissors.”
“I experienced the fear of being chewed to bits ten times”, Mutsu grumbled in a tired voice.
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